Caterpillar (CAT) Competitors

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment and valuation.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CAT or DE?

71.0% of Caterpillar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.6% of Deere & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Caterpillar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Deere & Company shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CAT or DE more profitable?

Caterpillar has a net margin of 15.71% compared to Deere & Company's net margin of 12.40%. Caterpillar's return on equity of 53.77% beat Deere & Company's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caterpillar	15.71%	53.77%	11.64%
Deere & Company	12.40%	24.39%	5.32%

Is CAT or DE a better dividend stock?

Caterpillar pays an annual dividend of $5.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Deere & Company pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Caterpillar pays out 27.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Deere & Company pays out 31.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Caterpillar has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Deere & Company has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Caterpillar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, CAT or DE?

Caterpillar has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Deere & Company has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor CAT or DE?

In the previous week, Deere & Company had 3 more articles in the media than Caterpillar. MarketBeat recorded 60 mentions for Deere & Company and 57 mentions for Caterpillar. Deere & Company's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat Caterpillar's score of 1.24 indicating that Deere & Company is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Caterpillar	48 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Deere & Company	40 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, CAT or DE?

Caterpillar has higher revenue and earnings than Deere & Company. Caterpillar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Deere & Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Caterpillar	$64.81B	2.82	$10.79B	$20.52	18.93
Deere & Company	$51.72B	2.65	$7.10B	$20.67	24.45

Do analysts rate CAT or DE?

Caterpillar currently has a consensus target price of $380.83, indicating a potential downside of 1.95%. Deere & Company has a consensus target price of $515.19, indicating a potential upside of 1.95%. Given Deere & Company's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Deere & Company is more favorable than Caterpillar.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caterpillar	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
Deere & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.48

Summary

Caterpillar beats Deere & Company on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.